1973 Correspondence from the State Comptroller’s Office reveals Israeli welfare authorities illegally sent Muslim babies abandoned in the Sinai Peninsula for adoption by Christian families abroad.
Re: Handling abandoned babies in the Sinai
Letter from Y. Einstein to the Deputy Legal Advisor of the State Comptroller’s Office. In the letter, Mr. Einstein describes the findings regarding arrangements for the adoption of four Muslim children from Sinai by Christian families abroad. Einsetin asks for the opinion of the deputy legal advisor on four questions: the legality of transferring the babies outside the Sinai; the legality of issuing the travel documents that enabled sending the babies abroad; the legality of the adoption itself, especially by Christian families abroad, and the legality of sending the babies abroad.
In this document, Akevot Institute has redacted the names of the adopted babies and the name of a European country to which one of them was sent.
Legal Opinion of S. Hollander, Deputy Legal Advisor to the State Comptroller
The opinion of Shmuel Hollander, Deputy Legal Advisor to the State Comptroller’s Office: “not only has the handling of the children been tainted by illegality, it is also morally unacceptable”.
Annex: Babies’s information
The annex to Einstein’s letter contained information about the babies – the names they were given, their dates of birth and details of their transfer abroad.
In this document, Akevot Institute redacted identifying information about the adopted babies: names, dates of birth, travel document numbers and the name of a European country to which the baby born in Jerusalem (to a mother from Sinai) was transferred.
